Apparatus for the lixiviation of mineral ores



Nov. 15, 1938. c. c. JAIN APPARATUS FOR THE LIXIVIATIQI-I OF MINERAL ORES Filed May 28, 1957 37 36 INVENTOR @Zyde 6. Jawz.

Z 195 $77 ATTRNEY Patented Nov. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR THE LIXIVIATION OF MINERAL ORES Clyde 0. Jain, Denver, 0010. Application May 28, 1937, Serial No. 145,200 4 Claims. (01. 23-269) This invention relates to improvements in Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 Fig. 1; methods and apparatus for lixiviation of ores. Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 Fig. 1; In the mining of gold, especially where the gold Figure 5 is an end elevation showing an asoccurs free and in very small particles, the ore sembly of four tubular members and shows one 5 has been subjected to leaching in a cyanide solumethod of rotating the same; and

.tion. In the old cyanidemethods, the ore has Figure 6 is a diagram or flow sheet showing not been reduced to a powder and as a result it t e severa pa t n ss mbl d atio required a long time for the chemicals to pene- In the drawing, reference numerals l and 8 trate the ore and dissolve the gold or other mindesignate respectively the side and cross mem- 0 erals and besides, the solution had to be strong. bers of a base or frame for suppo ti a rotatable It is the object of this invention to produce a ylinder or dr m 9- Supported y the base are method for leaching ores, more especially gold a plurality of pairs of rollers Ill that in turn supbearing ores leached with a cyanide solution, po t the drum 9 fo at n ab u t o t which can be performed as a continuous process, nal a 'S- with a much weaker cyanide solution than has he um 9 s pre e b y Cylindrical s S wn heretofore been believed possible and which will in the drawin and i s m unt d that its axis require only a fraction of the time of the 1d of rotation is substantially horizontal. The ends cyanide methods. of the drum are closed by walls I I and I2, each Another object is to devise an apparatus in f W ch s pr d Wit a Opening l3 C which the method can be carried out. trio with the axis of rotation. The end walls are My improved method, briefly described, consecured to the cylindrical portion of the drum in sists in first wet grinding the ore to a 60 minus any s i able manne an hav een hown as a mesh in a solution containing cyanide. This tached to the latter by means of angle irons M.

grinding releases the gold particles and brings Th dg u ou the O i l3 rep h them into direct contact with the leaching soluerably bent inwardly a i i a ed y ref r nc tion. The ore pulp from the pulverizer is then nu r l I 80 as to Se v a p as a s The fed into a rotating agitator comprising one long i er u a of the drum is p o W t a tank, mounted for rotation about a substantially p ur l ty o i w d y eXtending Segmental fi s horizontal axis or the pulp may pass successively t at a a e helically in the manner n 30 through a number of identical rotating tanks or ed n Fig- 4- In the d w W diametridrums, provided on their inner surfaces with cally opposed rows of fins have been shown, but means for agitating the pulp. The speed of a greater number may be used if desired. Alrotation of the drums can be regulated so that th ugh th i v been shown as arranged in the time required for the pulp to pass through is rows, this is not an essential consideration as 35 suflicient to effect a thorough leaching. From they may be s a er d r an i ny other the agitators the pulp passes to filters and the S itab e W y- The Opening in end Wall 2 is the filtrate then goes to the preoipitators Where the feed open g a p je into the drum mineral held in solution is precipitated. The de thr ugh this open in a feed Conduit launder metalized filtrate is then returned to a storage N ha x ends fr m th i c r p nin of a tank where more cyanide is added if necessary, pulverizer l8. Projecting into the drum through and from the storage tank the solution passes to t e ope in N in e d Wa H is a discharge Chute the pulverizer. The method is continuous and IS. The inner end of this discharge chute is due to the fact that the ore is first ground to a provided with a hop e 20, somewhat as shown fine powder in a leaching solution and constantly n he purp se Of s hopper Will appear agitated throughout the entire leaching step, the as the description proceeds. metal particles are constantly brought into con- It is apparent t a Since the Openings are tact with fresh chemicals and the leaching is located a considerable distance above the bottom therefore ellected rapidly and thoroughly with of the drum or cylinder, the latter will serve as the result that the time required is greatly shorta tank or reservoir and maintain liquid at the ened and the cost correspondingly decreased. level of the lower edges of the openings, unless Inorder to more clearly describe the process the liquid is removed by some means especially and the apparatus in which it is carried out, designed for thatpurpose, In the present emreference will now be had to the accompanying bodiment, means has been provided for raising drawing in which the apparatus has been illusliquid from the bottom of the drum and dischargtrated and in which: ing it into the hopper 20, and this means consists Figure 1 is a diametrical section, on a vertical of a plurality of buckets 2!, that are arranged plane, through one of the cylindrical agitators around the interior of the drum in the manner in which the major portion of the leaching takes shown most clearly in Fig. 2. These buckets are place, a portion being shown in elevation; so arranged that when they are at the bottom of Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 Fig. 1; the rotating drum, they will fill with pu and this will be carried to a point above the hopper 20 and discharged into the latter. The drum 9 is intended to be rotated and for this purpose it has been provided with a ring 22 that has a sprocket flange 23 projecting from its outer surface. The manner in which the drum is rotated will be described in greater detail hereafter in connection with Fig. 5.

For the purpose of agitating the contents of the drum as it rotates and for moving it towards the discharge end, a plurality of segmental fins l6 have been provided. As above mentioned, these fins are arranged helically and when the drum rotates they will carry some of the contents upwardly in the direction of rotation and as the pulp flows downwardly, it will also be moved towards the discharge end by the action of the fins.

Near the discharge end a number of additional fins I60. have been provided to expedite the movement of the pulp towards the buckets.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 5, it will be seen that where a number of cylinders are employed, as is usually preferable, because if a single cylinder is employed, the length will have to be in the neighborhood of 100 feet, which is rather objectionable from the point of view of the manufacturer and installation, and therefore, instead of employing one long cylinder, a plurality of shorter ones can be used and arranged in the manner indicated in Fig. 5. It will be seen that in the illustration given, there are four cylinders, each rotatable about an axis located at a different level. The feed conduit or launder l1 connects with one end of the upper cylinder and each discharge conduit l9 connects the discharge opening of an upper cylinder with the intake opening of the cylinder directly beneath, and in this way the pulp under treatment will flow in series through all of the drums or cylinders. Since the drums or cylinders are of identical construction but reversed in such a manner that the intake end of one is directly above the discharge end of the other, they must be rotated in opposite directions and this is accomplished by means of a sprocket chain 24 that engages with the sprockets 23 on the drums and engages the upper surface of one drum and the lower surface of the next lower drum. This endless sprocket chain passes around the drive sprocket 25, thence over one or more idlers 26 in the manner shown in Fig. 5.

In order to better explain the operation, reference will now be had to Fig. 6, which shows in a diagrammatic manner the relationship of the several elements. In this diagram or flow sheet, reference numeral 21 designates a water reservoir or tank from which the water necessary for the operation is obtained. The tank 21 is connected with a cyanide tank 28 by means of a pipe 29. The cyanide tank is connected by means of a pipe 30 with the pulverizer l8, which may be an ordinary ball or rod mill or of any other suitable type. The conduit !1 extends from the pulverizer to the intake end of the upper drum and the discharge end of this drum is connected by means of a launder IS with the intake end of the drum directly beneath, and this is continued so that the pulp will flow through a number of cylinders in series. In the drawing, four drums or cylinders have been shown, each being approximately 24 feet in length, giving a total length of 96 feet. From the lowermost drum a discharge launder or conduit 3| extends to a position above a battery of filters, the individual elements of which have been designated by reference numeral 32. Branch conduits 33 extend from the launder 3| to each of the filters. The exact construction of the filters is immaterial as far as this invention is concerned, but as an example of a type of filter, the filter element at the right has been shown in section. The filter element consists of a tank in which a bag 34 of some suitable filter material is supported. When these bags become filled with sludge, they are removed and emptied. Positioned beneath the filters are precipitators 35, two of which have been illustrated, each precipitator is connected by means of pipes 36 with several filters, and there is therefore a constant supply of filtrate to the precipitators, even when some of the filters are not operating. The filtrate passes from the precipitators to a receiving tank 31 from which it is transferred by means of a pump 38 to the cyanide solution tank 28 where additional cyanide may if necessary.

Attention is called to the fact that although this invention has been described in connection with a cyanide treatment of ores, it is not necessarily limited to this solvent, as it is possible to;

employ the same mechanism and the same method with other solvents.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that a fioat 39 has been illustrated and is supported from 40 that is pivoted in the upper end of a bracket 4|. A connecting rod 42 extends from the outer end of the arm 40 and has its lower end connected to a member 43. Member 43 represents a throttle valve of an engine, either a steam or gasoline engine, or if an electric motor is employed, the speed control lever of an electric speed controller. If the apparatus is rotated by means of a steam engine, a gasoline engine, or an electric motor, each of these prime movers should be provided with a speed control which is in fiuenced by the float 39 in such a way that if the level of the pulp sinks, the speed of rotation is decreased, whereas if the level rises above a predetermined position, the speed of rotation is be added,

the inner end of an arm' increased, and in this manner the speed at which the cylindrical members rotate will be automatically adjusted to the feed and by properly controlling the rate at which pulp is fed, the time that it takes the pulp to flow through the entire K series of cylinders can be predetermined.

Let us now assume that the apparatus is to be used for the t-rearnent of ore containing gold in free or metallic state, the latter is fed by suitable means into a pulverizer H! where it is ground to liberation in a cyanide solution. The grinding is continued until the ore reaches a fineness of minus and it is then passed through the conduit l1 into the receiving end of the uppermost cylinder in the series. The cylinder is constantly rotating and the ore pulp is therefore being constantly agitated by the action of the fins l6 and moved slowly towards the discharge end. When it reaches the discharge end, the pulp is picked up by the buckets 2| and discharged into the hopper 20 and passes from thence to the intake end of the next lower cylinder, and this continues until it has passed through the entire series, when it fiows to the filters. The timing of the operation is such that after the ore has passed through all of the rotating tanks or cylinders, the gold contained therein will have been completely dissolved and will therefore be in chemical solution in the filtrate. The filtrate is passed to the precipitators 35 where it is subjected to the well about inclined known treatment by means of which the gold is precipitated and the cyanide solution is then returned to the tank 28 by means of the pump 38 With the ordinary cyanide methods, the ore must be leached for many days before the gold is completely dissolved by the cyanide solution. In this method, due to the fact that the ore is ground to a fine pulp, and to the further fact that it is continuously agitated, the time of treatment can be greatly shortened and it has been reduced to as short a time as four hours. decreasing the time necessary for the treatment of ore, a great increased capacity for the same equipment or a much smaller apparatus can be employed for a given amount of ore to be treated. way, there is a great saving in the cost of ore treatment over and above that which has heretofore been possible with similar methods.

The drums 9 are rotated at a comparatively slow speed and usually only one rotation in two minutes is used and the creased beyond this, as the object is to agitate the pulp suificiently to keep it from caking, and thereby procure constant contact between the by this simple expedient, the reaction between the solvent and the metal is expedited so as to obtain the great reduction in time pointed out above.

In the drawing, the drums 9 have been shown as cylindrical and rotatable about substantially horizontal axes, but this can be departed from if desired by using frusto conical drums rotating axes and so positioned that the are horizontal in the direction of No advantage can be seen for this lower surfaces the axes.

are substantially horizontal. This is intended to cover any equivalent arrangement.

Cyanide leaching is usually carried out in wooden tanks because the strong solution used will slowly dissolve iron or steel. In this method, however, the cyanide solution is so weak that it does not attack the iron or steel of which the cylinders are made. It is to be understood that any suitable material is to be used and that the cylindrical members may be made from wood if necessary.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

for simultaneous rotation,

constant.

2. In a mechanism for use in lixiviating mineral ores, in combination, a drum mounted for rotation, the bottom of the drum being substantially horizontal, the with the axis of rotation, means for rotating the drum, means comprising a launder, for feding ore pulp, inclining a lixiviating liquid, into one end of the drum, means comprising helically arranged fins for agitating the pulp and moving it towards the discharge end with the level of the pulp, whereby the rate of discharge will be maintained equal to the rate of feed.

3. An apparatus for use in lixiviating mineral ores, comprising in combination, a plurality of substantially identical cylindrical drums, mounted for rotation about substantially horizontal 4. An apparatus for the lixiviation of mineral ore pulp comprising in combination, an elongated cylindrical drum having its ends closed by Walls having central openings, at

CLYDE C. JAIN 

